History sinks in for first ever black female golfer at Jr. Ryder CupJohn Mitchell | September 30, 2010

Not long ago, 16-year-old Ginger Howard figured she would be getting ready to watch her idol, Tiger Woods, lead the United States against Europe in the Ryder Cup later this week.

Not playing in it.

Howard, 16, ranked No. 8 by the Junior Golf Scoreboard, helped lead the United States past Europe on Tuesday, 13 ½ – 10 ½ , Tuesday in Perthshire, Scotland. Howard, the only African-American girl to ever make the U.S Team, earned her spot by virtue of finishing second in a three-hole playoff at 35th Junior PGA Championship this summer in Fort Wayne, Ind. At the PGA Championship, Howard forced the playoff after firing a 3-under-par 69 in the final round that was preceded by a 4-under 68.

“My mother and I were talking about it and she told me that I was making history,” Howard, of Bradenton, Fla., said. “It’s going to be awesome playing there. It’s going to be great to represent African-Americans, my country. I’m carrying a lot of pride.”

The Jr. Ryder Cup team consisted of the top 12 boys and girls junior golfers in the country. Two years ago the U.S. defeated Europe 22-2.

Howard’s father, Robert, introduced Ginger and her younger sister, Robbi, also a highly ranked player, to golf at ages six and four, respectively. It began when his wife of 22 years, Gianna, told him to take them with him to the golf course. (Read full article)

I am the proud auntie of a six year old skinny first grader. He’s a smart little kid, and funny, and wears glasses, and is still too young to know that flipping over a couch can cause serious injury. He’s having fun and is learning the boundaries of his body day by day, bruise by bruise. For the most part, his injuries are small and they heal quickly. At times, we step in to offer stern direction or even punishment, as running around the house with pointy objects isn’t an activity we can allow to be trial and error. Overall, we recognize there is only a small window of time to instill confidence and creativity before we send him off into the world, where for half the day he may learn things we’d rather him not learn, where someone may react to him in a way that doesn’t celebrate who he is, and where boundaries are set that aren’t easily removed. The importance of school in child development is no small thing. My mom transferred me year after year, seeking a healthy balance (and a decent education) that we never quite got right, and by the time I was in 7th grade, I’d transferred seven times. So I was always the new kid.

The new kid is always an easy target and bullies had their tries. But I had my fists; many Chicago children come out the womb with their dukes up. I spent a lot of time in the school office trying to explain my side of things and was often met with skepticism or was completely ignored. My fighting was not just an attempt to establish myself in an unknown world. I was a kid seeking some footing, some power in a world where I had none. Luckily, I had a sense of humor and it got my by. But unfortunately, young children bullying one another is often seen as a rite of passage, just part of growing up. It is rarely seen as an early form of marginalization, a place where potential people never become. We react with surprise when young gay children like Asher Brown kill themselves after years of ridicule. It is not just enough to say “it will get better.” But the question is, who will you be when it does get better?

Let me start by apologizing for my absence last week. I know people say this all the time but there is just so much going on in my head/heart that I almost can’t tell up from down. I could get personal and write about the emotional toll my ailing grandmother is having on me. I could talk about adjusting to my new job. I could talk about my health issues. But I chose to take the week off to try and piece my life together.

I had every intention of adding my two cents on the Eddie Long “situation” but Summer and Jonathan wrote beautifully on that topic. That leaves me to discuss the second most popular topic on my twitterfeed the past couple weeks.

4,100 Students Prove ‘Small Is Better’ Rule WrongSam Dillon, New York Times | September 27, 2010

BROCKTON, Mass. — A decade ago, Brockton High School was a case study in failure. Teachers and administrators often voiced the unofficial school motto in hallway chitchat: students have a right to fail if they want. And many of them did — only a quarter of the students passed statewide exams. One in three dropped out. Then Susan Szachowicz and a handful of fellow teachers decided to take action. They persuaded administrators to let them organize a schoolwide campaign that involved reading and writing lessons into every class in all subjects, including gym. Their efforts paid off quickly. In 2001 testing, more students passed the state tests after failing the year before than at any other school in Massachusetts. The gains continued. This year and last, Brockton outperformed 90 percent of Massachusetts high schools. And its turnaround is getting new attention in a report, “How High Schools Become Exemplary,” published last month by Ronald F. Ferguson, an economist at Harvard who researches the minority achievement gap. What makes Brockton High’s story surprising is that, with 4,100 students, it is an exception to what has become received wisdom in many educational circles — that small is almost always better. (Read the full article)

Faggot. Homo. Queer. At the dawn of a pastor’s hypocrisy, I hope our leaders in this country (whoever they might be) look beyond the surface of a situation and excavate deeper into truth and understanding. Not only truth about any particular person’s action, but truth and understanding about a group of people and what that group does and does not stand for.

In the last week the internet has been filled with derogatory terminology about gay men specifically, but on a broader basis, the LGBT community as a whole. Faggot, Homo, and Queer have been spewed across television and internet screens while being cocooned into negative connotations to not only strike down a pastor, but to also demonize a whole community of people that believe homosexuality is not an abomination. Yes, in case you want some type of preface this is yet another, “It is not about Eddie Long” blog. And I only feel the need to write this type of narrative due to that fact that many people continue to use “this situation” (and others like it) to perpetuate a hateful derogatory stereotypes about the LGBT community.

NBC | September 28, 2010

History always has a way of repeating itself. Madonna & Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin & Christine O’Donnell, Mike Tyson & Chris Brown. When debating in the hallowed halls of Congress many elected officials use history as vital reference points for their arguments in favor or opposition of legislation. Ideally the historical roadmap should guide the policymaker in the right direction because they can see the mistakes that were made in the past. Well this is only an ideal situation. The Republican Party leadership did a lousy job at interpreting history because their “Pledge to America” is nowhere near as substantive as the 1994 “Contract With America”. This manifesto is nothing more than a contradictory document laden with fabrications. Instead of outlining substantive measures that will positively affect the economy, they speak in glaring generalities about “tax hikes” and “small businesses”. Not only is their appeal to “Middle America” tenuous, at times their stances are paradoxical.

About The Black Youth Project

The Black Youth Project examines the attitudes, resources and culture of the young black millennials.

We have three core areas of focus: knowledge, voice, and action. Knowledge is the research we perform on Black millennials ages 18-35. Voice is the high-quality news and opinions written by Black millennials on this platform. Action is the work done through our sister organization BYP100.